Slow warm up - detrimental to the engine

It's not as big a deal as it used to be because of all the emission controls but it is better to just start a car, let it idle for 30 seconds and then drive off. But if you use a remote starter and then drive a decent distance so the car really gets fully warmed up I wouldn't worry about it.

I have two cars, one of which is very slow to warm up at idle, and the other which is very quick to warm up at idle. I can't tell you why although I suspect the one that is slow to warm up uses as little fuel as possible to keep the engine running. While an engine is cold, some of the gasoline vapor entering the cylinder will condense and run down the cylinder wall into the oil pan. This is one of the reasons oil life is shorter in cold weather.

The current thinking is that it is better to keep idling short, and drive off slowly. In this way, the engine warms up faster because it has to work harder and the drivetrain warms up at the same time.

A block heater is a far better way to deal with cold weather than remote start, if you have a plug-in available. Warming for one to two hours will reduce gas consumption and emissions. By heating the coolant, the block heater will also make your interior heater work right from the start. By making the engine easier to start, the block heater also saves wear on the battery, starter and alternator. However, it lacks the 'cool' factor of a remote starter.

I think remote start is wasteful, but not likely to cause specific harm to the engine, as long as you follow a winter maintenance schedule.

Dan

(This account is not used for email.)

The last time I remote started my car it jumped out of gear. It went down the driveway in reverse. It Crossed the street into the elemetary school ballfield and killed four 5 year olds.

----------------------------------------------- Above is my horrific dream i had I never remote start a vehicle no matter how cold.

Jumped out of gear? Out of PARK ? Impossible.

"Pszemol" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@poczta.onet.pl:

That is not impossible at all. It just means that he didn`t have it correctly in park in the first place. KB

If you leave vehicle incorrectly parked than the accident can happen no matter if remote start is installed or not. As soon as you take foot of the brake pedal your car starts rolling off hill...

The failure of any mechanical device is never impossible.

OK, did not know about this... Thank you for the warning. One more reason for me to stay away from Ford ;-)

So... to sum up... nobody really see a problem with slow warm up of the engine during idle? That was my main question in this conversation thread... :-)

thread:

Well, my first thought is that if the car has been sitting out all night in zero degree weather that an idle speed will likely take a lot longer to circulate oil to all locaations in the engine. My second thought is that a slow warm up will likely increase emissions until the engine is warm. My third thought is that a block heater will make starting a very cold engine a lot easier and will provide all but instant heat.

I see your point ... But a block heater is out of the question in my situation.

Comparing slow warm up on idle to just starting the car and driving to work, I have always thought the first one is preffered one. Also, I have seen many people sit in their cars even in summer and wait 2-3 minutes after starting before driving off... so they did not like the idea to drive on the cold engine, quite opposite to claiming slow warm up is bad for your car...

Unintended acceleration is invariably due to the driver confusing brake and accelerator pedals, and stomping on the accelerator pedal as hard as possible in an effort to stop the car. The cases of unintended acceleration all vanished with the advent of transmission interlocks where the tranny can't be taken out of park unless the brake is being depressed.

Why is a block heater not an option?

Today's engines warm up faster when you drive them. If you let it idle for

The only thing idling does is put unnecessary pollution into the air and waste gas.

Why would my particular situation matter in the discussion on remote starters?

What are you trying to prove? That engine run at 2000-3000 rpm generates more heat than the same engine run at 750rpm? That is kind of obvious and nobody is questioning it will be faster. The question was does slow warm up hurt the engine or not?

I am guessing you have never had remote start... I have it in my old toyota camry and it is great in the winter or in the hot summer here in Chicago. Iddling for 15 minutes is enough not only to melt the snow off my windshield but also to warm up the car interior... The trick is to not forget setting the heater to maximum heat and maximum fan :-)

Someone criticized my idea to add remote start to my car, arguing that warmup idling of a car in cold weather is not healthy for the engine. Is there a basis for this argument? _______________________________________________

The fuel mixture is at its richest during a cold idle. The unburned extra fuel goes out the exhaust and some goes down the cylinder walls. This thins out the cylinder wall lubrication and dilutes the oil in the pan.

If you drive awhile, the fuel in the pan will evaporate, so the remaining concerns are the dry cylinder wall wear, the cost of the wasted fuel, and possible deterioration of the cat converter from the idling flood of unburned gasoline.

I don't know how serious the above concerns are. Many people in cold climates use remote starters and long idle warmup times. They feel that any damage from a cold idle is small compared to the convenience of a warm car.

Good luck.

Rodan.

You guess wrong. I have had two remote starters on two different vehicles here in Montana. You don't get cold as we do. A block heater will work just fine in heating up the car within a minute or so. But you're going to put a remote starter on anyway so why ask us?

How is the block heater heat your car interior if the fan/blower is off?

When the block is warm, as soon as you turn the heat on in the car, hot air will come out of the vents.

When you start the car cold, cold air comes out of the vents for a good while until the engine warms up.

On a VW bug, cold air always comes out of the vents no matter WHAT you do.

--scott

... but then it is replaced with warm air, right?

So the block heater is inferior to the remote engine start: with remote start I walk into a car interior which is warm. I sit on warm sits and the snow is already melted of the windows. With the block heater you walk into a cold car, sit on cold sits, you have to deal with cold windows covered with snow... Also, for the block heater to work, you need to be parked right next to the wall with the AC socket. So you cannot use the feature when you drive to work and leave the car on a big parking lot. With the remote start you can start the car

So the block heater is only half way solution. The choice seems to be quite simple :-)